Control – Part 3

The next morning at the hospital…

Katie was the first one up. Wiping the sleep from her eyes she looked over at the couch to see Rick and Bridget still asleep. Looking at her watch, she realized it was morning already. Suddenly she was worried. Why didn’t the nurses come and get her? Was Brooke all right? Did she ever regain consciousness? Was there something wrong and no one wanted to tell her? She quietly rushed out of the lounge and found the nearest nurse.

“Nurse, how is my sister, Brooke Logan? Is she all right? Why didn’t anyone come and get me? I asked to be notified when she woke up.”

The nurse just smiled. “Miss Logan, your sister is going to be fine. She regained consciousness and was informed about her injuries and the fact that you and the children were in the lounge asleep. We told her we were going to get you but she insisted that we didn’t. She wanted all of you to get some sleep. She said that as soon as you or the children woke up you could go and see her. Even injured, your sister is a very stubborn woman.”

Katie had to agree with her. “Yes, one of the most stubborn people I will ever know. But she is going to recover without any complications, right?”

“I can get the doctor for you, but yes she should be fine. Her arm will be is a cast for a few months, and the bruising should go down if a few days.”

“And the baby?”

“So far there are no complications to her pregnancy. The doctor just wants her to remain in the hospital for a few more days just to make sure. She was very lucky.”

“Yes, she was. Thank you. I’m going to go see her now. Can you let the kids know if they wake up before I get back?”

“Sure.”

“Thank you.”

Katie peeked into Brooke’s room, not wanting to disturb her if she was still sleeping.

“Stop sneaking around and get in here.”

“Brooke! How are you? I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Well according to the doctors, me and the baby are very lucky. But I am sore all over. Other than not wanting to run a marathon right now, I’m fine. How are the kids? I can’t believe you let them sleep here last night. You should have made them go home.”

Katie looked at Brooke incredulously. “Brooke, their mother was in a serious accident last night and they were worried about her. (Smiling) Maybe if you didn’t take so long waking up from the accident they could have seen that you were all right and I could have convinced them to go home. You are not the only stubborn person in this family. Some of that rubbed off on your kids too.”

“Yes, I guess you’re right. There probably would have been no way to send them home. How are they? Where are they?”

“Well, asides from being scared last night, they are fine. When the doctor told us you and the baby would be fine, they were relieved. They are in the lounge asleep.”

“Well, as soon as they wake up, go ahead and send them in here. All of a sudden, I really need to see my kids.” Brooke started to tear up.

Katie went over to her and gave her a gentle hug. “Brooke, how are you really.”

“Well, I will be all right. I can’t believe this happened. What did happen?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, all I remember is driving home tired and then there was another car coming at me?” Brooke stopped and tried to remember. “Oh, no. Did I cause this accident? Maybe I was too tired to be driving. I had a lot on my mind last night.”

“No Brooke, it wasn’t your fault. The other driver was drunk.” Katie hopes that Brooke won’t ask too many more questions. The police filled her in on the identity of the other driver.

“A drunk driver. Is he ok.”

“Yes, just a few bumps and bruises.”

“At least no one was seriously hurt. Who was…” Before she could answer Rick and Bridget appeared in the doorway.

“Mom!” The kids ran over to their mother, but stopped from touching her.

“You know, you can give me a hug. Don’t let all this medical stuff keep you away.” After hugging her children, Brooke gave them strict orders to go home.

“Why? There is no school and we don’t want to leave you alone.”

“Kids, I won’t be. The doctors are taking good care of me, and I need you to take care of yourselves. When was the last time either of you ate anything?” She looks from Rick to Bridget and back again. They say nothing. “That’s what I thought. Now I want both of you to go home, eat something, take a shower, take a nap, and then come back as quick as possible and spend time with me.” She smiles at her children. “Besides, if I have to spend the next few days locked up in this place it doesn’t mean that you have to as well.” Seeing that Rick and Bridget are about to argue with her she stops them. “That’s it. No more discussion. I will see you in a few hours ok? I need to speak to Katie for a while anyway.”

“Ok”

“We’re going. But we’ll be back soon. I’m so glad you are ok.”

“That makes two of us. I’ll be right here when you get back. It’s not like I’m going anywhere. Come here, give me a hug then it’s back to the house with the two of you.” Once the kids left, Brooke turned back to Katie. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“We might have some problems.”

In another part of the hospital Thorne was waiting for the family to arrive. He was not looking forward to it. When Macy had awakened the night before, she didn’t want to talk to him. She didn’t even want him in the same room. He spent the night in another lounge on the couch, but didn’t sleep. He just kept thinking about his life ever since Italy. What should have been the happiest time in his life ended in disaster. He started by hurting the one woman he claimed to love by abandoning her and mistrusting her. Then he marries another woman and proceeds to make her miserable and drive her to lose her sobriety. He thought he was finally doing the right thing telling Macy how he really felt. But that had backfired as well, like everything else he tried to do. How could he explain things to the families when he couldn’t even explain them to himself?

“Thorne! How is Macy?” Sally and Adam’s arrival brought him back into the present.

“She is..”

“Thorne, are you all right? How is Macy? What happened?” Thorne turned and saw that his parents had also arrived.

“Well, if you would let him get a word in edgewise, maybe he could speak.” Sally just glared at Stephanie.

“Sally, we are all worried about Macy. Thorne, how is she.”

“She is going to be fine. (Everyone was relieved) She was in a car accident last night, but only suffered some cuts and bruises. She is awake and I’m sure she would like to see all of you later.” Sally and Adam started to leave to check on their daughter. “Wait, there is more that I need to tell you.”

Sally and Adam started to get worried again. “What, I thought you said she was going to be fine. What is it?”

“Medically she is going to recover without any problems.” He paused, not wanting to continue.

“Medically?”

“Yes, she is in a lot of trouble legally.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe you should be quiet and just let him speak, Sally.”

“Oh shut up Stephanie. This is MY daughter we’re speaking about. What are you even doing here?”

“I came here because she is my daughter-in-law, and I care about her. I’m also here to support my son.”

“What a load of bull. You never cared about anyone else besides yourself. I bet you wish they never were married. You can’t have the mighty Forrester family sullied by having one marry a Spectra!”

“How dare you! Why I should …”

“QUIET!” Both women stopped arguing and looked over at Thorne. “Can’t the two of you stop arguing for a single minute? We are in a hospital.” Sally and Stephanie both took a deep breath and took a step back from each other.

“Why don’t you continue Thorne?” Thorne looked over towards Adam, grateful that he was calm at least, for now.

“Macy is the one that caused the accident last night. (He looked over at Sally and Adam. He could tell they already had a good idea what he was going to say, but continued on anyway.) She was drinking, and ran into another car.”

“Oh, no. I can’t believe she would ever start drinking again. Oh, my god, what about the other driver? Please tell me the other driver is going to be fine?”

“Yes, Sally. The other driver will make a full recovery. But the police will arrest her as soon as she can be released from the hospital. (He glanced at his watch) Which should be in a few hours. (Sally and Adam both looked numb) Why don’t the two of you go see her? I’ll wait here.”

“Ok, we’ll be back soon. I guess we need to call a lawyer.”

“Adam, that can wait now. I just need to see my baby.” Adam and Sally walked off arm in arm. Thorne watched them go, hating himself even more. I guess I can add hurting them to my list, he thought.

“Thorne? How are you?” His father’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “This wasn’t your fault. (Thorne looked dubious) We all know that Macy is an alcoholic. I guess we all just assumed that she would stay recovered.”

“What could have caused her to start drinking again? She was so happy when the two of you got married again. I can’t believe I am about to say this, but I feel bad for Sally. Don’t worry, your father and I will do everything we can to help you and your wife.”

Wife, how can I tell them the reason she started drinking? That the reason she drove tonight is that I told Macy I wanted to end our marriage.

“Thorne, what is it. You can’t blame yourself.”

“Dad, there is something else I need to tell you.”

“What, is it about the other driver? If he is going to recover, do you think he will sue when he finds out it was Macy that hit him? I’m sure we can handle anything. I told you, even with our differences with Sally, both families will stand behind the two of you. Right Stephanie?” He looked over at her.

“Of course, how could you think otherwise? We both know how much Thorne loves Macy. We will do everything we can to make sure this other driver cooperates. Maybe we can even get him to talk to the police and have the chargers either reduced or dropped?”

“Well, I don’t know about that, but it would help to know who he is. (Eric looked over at Thorne) Do you know who the other driver is?”

“Yes, it’s…”

“Rick, Bridget, what are you doing here.” Eric was shocked to see his other two children at the hospital. “Did Thorne call you about Macy?”

Thorne turned around to see Rick and Bridget walking up to them.

“No, we were just on our way home actually. But we will be back later. We will probably see you then.” Rick and Bridget continued on their way out of the hospital without another glance at their father, stepmother, or Thorne.

“What was that about? I really don’t understand this. Ever since Rick moved back in with his mother, they have been hostile towards us. Eric, you must speak to them. Brooke really must be influencing their behavior. Wait a minute, if they were just leaving, have they been here all night?”

“Yes mom, I think they have.”

“Why, I don’t understand this. What were they doing here? They said you didn’t call them, so why were they here all night.”

“Dad, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. The other driver in Macy’s accident was Brooke.” Stephanie and Eric are shocked.

Back on Brooke’s floor.

“What kind of problems could we have? I will be fine and so will the baby. Everyone at the office knows that I was going to start working from home. Instead of working from home I will just work here for the next few days.” Brooke was confused.

“Brooke, Thorne was here last night.”

“Why? Megan told me that he wanted to speak to me; I was going to call him today. (Katie glares at Brooke) Don’t give me that look, if I didn’t call him he would have found some way to see me, and we both know what would happen if he saw me. (Brooke waved her had over her enlarged belly) Katie! You tell him I was here did you? I thought we agreed to keep this secret.”

“Brooke, calm down a second. No, I didn’t tell him you were here. He was here for a different reason. (Brooke gave her sister a quizzed look. Katie knew she would have to tell Brooke everything.) Macy is here too. She was in an accident last night as well.”

“Oh, no. Poor Thorne.” Brooke looked back at Katie. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Brooke, Macy was the drunk driver that hit you last night.”

“Oh my god.”

“Yeah, Thorne came into the emergency room just as the doctor was filling us in on your condition.”

“He didn’t find out I’m pregnant did he?”

“No, it was close thought.”

“As long as he didn’t find out, that’s all that matters. Is Macy going to be ok?”

“Yes, she just had some bumps and bruises. The police will be by later to arrest her and to take your statement. But that isn’t the problem.”

“What is then? I don’t understand?”

“Brooke, I’m sure that at this moment this hospital is crawling with Spectras and Forresters. (Understanding comes across Brook’s face) I already informed the police and the hospital staff that no one was to release any information about you or your condition to anyone but me, Rick or Bridget. (Brooke starts to feel some relief) But how long do you think it will be before one of them tries to speak to you? Or one of their lawyers? I’m sure they will try to do everything to try to help Macy out of her legal mess. That probably means speaking to you.”

“No, that can’t happen. My threats have worked great so far. No one has tried to see me or call me after the first week or so. They knew I meant it. Well, hopefully the threats will have to work here as well. (She looks over at Katie) I only have to be here for another day or two right?”

“Yes, then you can come home. The good thing is that you and Macy are on different floors.”

“I just hope that they stay away.”

“Do really think that will work?”

“Probably not. Katie, call our lawyer and have him speak with the Forresters and the Spectras. Have him say that I will cooperate fully with them as long as I am left alone to recuperate. Just like my threats at work. One person comes to see me and I will make life hell for Macy.”

“Brooke, do you really want Macy to go to jail?”

“No, I feel badly for her though. I admit, in the beginning I truly hated her. But everything that happened wasn’t her fault. Part of it yes, but not all of it. I really don’t want to see her is jail.”

“Ok, I call the lawyer and get things started. Oh, I called Megan and Giovanni last night. They should be here soon. I’ll be back as well. I’ll also try to find the families and tell them what your plan is. That way they don’t try to bother you before the lawyers speak.” She goes to give Brooke a hug.

“Thank you Katie. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“Hopefully, you will never have to find out. I’ll see you later.”

Katie’s comment about Megan reminded her of Thorne. I wonder what was so important that he had to talk to me?

End of Part 3

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